Why India struggles in 'big matches' but Australia (and Virat Kohli) don't?

Before their clash in New York on Sunday, June 9, India and Pakistan have played each other seven times in men's T20 World Cups.

Virat Kohli has featured in five of these games, starting in 2012, and has top-scored for India in each of them. Stunningly, relentlessly, with discomfort, with ease, on turning tracks, against swing, in four wins and one loss. In total, he has scored 308 runs with four unbeaten innings and three Player of the Match awards.

When cricket fans complain about India-Pakistan matches not feeling like a rivalry, it's because of him. He has been the difference in making it a boring yet winning contest for India. In any other era, it might have been a level playing field.

Most of his team and the opposition's have gone through a generational shift but his ability to perform in the most hyped-up and high-pressure games has remained the same.

But India has just one of him. Not having more players to perform in such games has perhaps played a role in the ICC trophy drought since 2013, even if you exclude the pitch kerfuffle in the 2023 World Cup final.

Data rejects the theory that India's playing intent gets worse in high-pressure games compared to inconsequential bilaterals, but it doesn't say that they perform better when the pressure is at its peak either.

Someone like Mitchell Starc, for example, showed with back-to-back Player of the Match performances for the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the Qualifier 1 and the final of IPL 2024, that he reserves his best for the most critical moments.

During the season, we revealed that the entire KKR set-up had similar traits, from the coaching staff to mentor Gautam Gambhir and several players.

Now, to take the discourse forward and broaden it to the Men in Blue, Sportskeeda spoke to Paddy Upton, the mental-conditioning coach who was part of the 2011 World Cup-winning backroom staff and has worked with several Indian and international players and teams over the years, and discussed these aspects in detail.

Excerpts from Paddy Upton's interview with Sportskeeda

Q. I observed a trend in KKR of IPL 2024 that they had a lot of players who had better performance stats in high-pressure knock-out matches than in league games or bilaterals. Mentality-wise, is there something that separates these players from others? For instance, do they tend to concentrate harder in such games?

Paddy Upton: When it comes to Performing under pressure, players generally fall somewhere along an inverted U-curve. At the one end, there are a few players who perform best at fairly low levels of pressure, like when the wickets are fairly flat, and they are batting or bowling against the other teams' slightly weaker bowlers or batsmen. Towards the middle of the graph are players who perform under medium levels of pressure. The majority fall around this area. On the right-hand side, one finds those few players who tend to perform most consistently at the highest levels of pressure when the game is most consequential.

At the international level, one finds only a small handful of players here. Examples include [MS] Dhoni, [VVS] Laxman, [Gautam] Gambhir, and Kohli. These players want the high-pressure situation, they feel optimally challenged by them, and thus are able to remain focused, and minimally distracted.

Q. Gautam Gambhir, who's now KKR's mentor, has spoken about "mental toughness" in the past and how some players just have it while some don't. Is this something that can be developed and conditioned into players?

Paddy Upton: Gambhir was someone who epitomized mental toughness. Gary Kirsten used to refer to him as ‘the rock’ of the Indian team. I was not surprised that he played the innings he did during the 2011 World Cup final. He was the bedrock of the team's win that night. I think players are mostly born with or learn this ability to perform under high pressure from very young ages. In addition, almost everyone can be coached to perform better, and more consistently under high pressure.

Q. With India now playing at the 2024 T20 World Cup, as always, the chats will be around how they need to avoid "buckling under pressure" or "changing how they play" under pressure. But, according to your experience, do such intangibles like pressure and momentum play a role in deciding the outcome of a match?

Paddy Upton: The general trend with momentum is that teams carry it for between four and maybe seven matches. It often happens that teams who have excellent momentum early on in competitions, like RR in this past IPL, often lose momentum towards the end. Similarly, teams that start badly and then find momentum towards the business end of the tournament, and go into the finals with around 3 or 4 consecutive wins, have momentum in their favor.

As far as pressure goes, it’s a very real experience - one that can and does undermine players in key moments. Pressure rises in equal proportion to the amount of importance we place on a result. The more desperate a team is to win, the more pressure will work against them. Tournament favorites are expected to win, so often carry more pressure, compared to underdogs who have nothing to lose and, thus don’t suffer as much pressure.

Q. Can these factors be controlled by somehow making players ready for these games?

Paddy Upton: The best way to deal with pressure is firstly, to acknowledge it, not deny it or try and downplay it. Acknowledge that big games are big games. Next is to familiarize players with everything they will face in the final. Prepare in practice as if it’s a final, and approach each round-robin game as if it’s the final. It’s even an idea to practice with loudspeakers that emulate the same sounds and noise of a final. Repeated exposure to both pressure and fear is one of the best ways to get more comfortable with them.

Another approach is to have players separate their sense of self-worth from results so that their ego doesn’t get attached to winning. And finally, it can help to have something greater than themselves to play for, like playing for loved ones, fans, or the people of the country they represent.

Q. There's also this aspect of "Australian mentality". Some observers, including myself, tend to believe that the Aussies have the ability to handle pressure better and win the big moments. Does your experience suggest any proof in these things, or is it just how we perceive things?

Paddy Upton: As mentioned earlier, exposure is one of the best ways to get comfortable with pressure. Australian players, coaches and even fans are more comfortable with the high-pressure moments, because of the amount of times they have succeeded in them in recent times. It’s a similar story with CSK and MI in the IPL, they don’t arrive at finals like a deer in the headlights. They know what it’s all about, so can relax and focus on playing the game. The other thing Australia has to its advantage, is they adopt an attitude and posture of confidence and even arrogance that tends to help in those moments. In contrast, Indians tend to be more humble or reserved or cautious by nature, which is less ideal as a default mindset for big games.

Q. You have been in so many dressing rooms ahead of so many of these big matches, is the environment any different than a usual game? And is there a way to control it?

Paddy Upton: The mindset is to expect that it’s a big moment, but the focus needs to be on the same things that brought the team to the final. Finals do not require a special performance! They require the basics to be done excellently. Teams that win finals are often not the teams that play the best, but the teams that make the fewest mistakes.

Q. Finally, can a team weaker on paper outperform a stronger team just because it has a better mental approach (like handling pressure) to the game?

Paddy Upton: A less talented team can beat a more talented team of arrogant or individualistic superstars, especially if they have cut corners in preparation. Under pressure, teams don’t rise to their potential, they fall to the level of their preparation. It does happen that slightly weaker teams know they are slightly weaker, and so give absolutely everything in their preparation for tournaments. Talent may win games, but excellent preparation and great teamwork wins tournaments.